The present invention relates to apparatus for housing surveillance devices, and the invention also relates to a surveillance unit comprising the apparatus. In particular, the invention relates to such apparatus and a surveillance unit of the type suitable for monitoring the grounds of a building, the perimeter of an estate, a pipeline or the like, although the invention is not limited to such apparatus and surveillance units.
Surveillance apparatus for carrying out surveillance of the grounds of a building, the perimeter of an estate, a pipeline, for example, a pipeline, such as oil pipelines extending above ground over a desert for many hundreds of kilometers are known, and in general, comprise pole mounted digital cameras. One or more upstanding poles, in general are provided with respective platforms mounted on the top thereof, and one or more the digital cameras are mounted on a mounting bracket extending upwardly from the platform or depending downwardly therefrom. In general, servo-motors are provided for rotating the cameras about respective vertical axes, and for tilting the cameras about respective horizontal axes. Such camera arrangements require control circuitry, for both controlling the camera functions as well as for controlling the servo-motors. The control circuitry for controlling the camera functions typically is located within a housing of the camera while the control circuitry for controlling the servo-motors is located in a separate housing mounted on the platform. While such arrangements of surveillance apparatus are adequate in areas which are not subjected to extreme environmental conditions, they are unsuitable in areas which are subjected to extreme environmental conditions, and in particular extreme temperatures such as extreme low temperatures of the order of −17° C. and extreme high temperatures of the order of +46° C. Temperatures of the order of +46° C. are encountered in tropical regions, and in particular in desert regions where pipelines for oil and other liquids and gases are commonly laid over ground and extend for many hundreds of kilometers. Temperatures of the order of −17° C. are commonly experienced in arctic and Antarctic conditions, likewise where pipelines for oil and other liquids and gases are laid over ground. Digital cameras and control circuitry therefor, as well as control circuitry for controlling the orientation of the digital cameras, in general, comprise integrated circuitry which is formed on one or more dies. Such integrated circuits and dies, in general, are only capable of operating within a limited range of temperatures, and thus, are entirely unsuitable for operating in regions of excessively high or excessively low temperatures, such as those discussed above.
Additionally, in such surveillance apparatus of the type know heretofore data from the cameras and any other surveillance instruments are hard wired back to a central monitoring station. This can involve significant expense particularly, where the apparatus is required to monitor the perimeter of a relatively large estate, or monitor pipeline of many hundreds of kilometers in length, or to monitor the borders of a country or state.
There is therefore a need for apparatus for housing surveillance devices which addresses at least some of these problems, and there is also a need for a surveillance unit which likewise addresses at least some of the problems of devices known heretofore.
The present invention is directed towards providing such apparatus and a surveillance unit.